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I want my MTV…just in real estate this time.

MTV just changed their logo after 30 years and dropped the “Music Television” line under the big “M”. UGH, I’m getting old. Thinking back to the days after I graduated from Rutgers and watched at least 10 hours straight every day of The Police, Pat Benatar, Dire Straits and my personal favorite, Joe “King” Carasco […]

MTV just changed their logo after 30 years and dropped the “Music Television” line under the big “M”. UGH, I’m getting old.

old and new MTV Logo

Thinking back to the days after I graduated from Rutgers and watched at least 10 hours straight every day of The Police, Pat Benatar, Dire Straits and my personal favorite, Joe “King” Carasco and the Coconuts, video was just sooo cool. 30 years later, I believe video is about to do the same to property listings and the way you shop for homes…and you should be demanding it as a consumer.

Two quick stories…my pilot light went out in my new house and I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong to get it lit again. I went to a dozen websites and read through 8-10 articles about how to light a pilot light. Still couldn’t figure it out. So I went to YouTube and the very first video that came up gave me a visual step by step instruction and I SAW what I was doing wrong. Second story…I’m in Athens, GA at our Coldwell Banker Upchurch Realty office and the owner, a great guy named Charlie Upchurch, told me a very funny story about finally learning to tie a bow tie from a video online after a long, frustrating effort using written instructions. He SAW what he needed to do.

Photos are great. Don’t get me wrong. But clearly the advent of broadband has allowed for streaming video to change how we look for homes

Video simply does a better job of telling the story. Want a home with an open floor plan, you will see it in video . Want an eat in kitchen, video can give you a pretty good guess of how many can actually eat in.

For Buyers: Demand to see a video of the properties you are interested in, especially if you are buying a home from a distance and are unfamiliar with the locations/area. Don’t just rely on photos. Seeing the house in video is like the bow tie story…it’s better seeing the video than just reading a description with photos.

For Sellers: Make sure your agent produces a video for your listing and tells the story of your home that the photos can’t. That great backyard that backs up to Preserved Open Space would look great on a video. Or, that gourmet kitchen during an agent open house will really show off the size of the space. How about showing off that great fireplace or water feature with video vs static photos (pictures don’t “crackle”)? Remember, without video, all you are offering a buyer are the same 10 photos you have on every other single real estate .com site (Yawn…). And, more people search on YouTube than Yahoo! or Bing! So take advantage of that and get more eyeballs on your listings.

As consumers making the biggest purchase/sale of your life, you should be demanding the most transparent and visually interesting medium to help you achieve your goals….video. Coldwell Banker ® is already leading the way with Coldwell Banker “On Location TM” . With over 10,000 real estate videos uploaded to one channel, it is one of the largest collections of real estate videos (listings, agent profiles, community videos) on the planet as far as I can tell (public stats don’t exist)…

Pat Benatar and Pete Townsend snarling “I want my MTV” worked pretty well with the cable companies back in 1981 to pressure them to start carrying the new music cable network …and this started a revolution. Let’s try it now for real estate.

COO for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Ohio born, Jersey raised, NYC, LA and Nashville cultured. Father of three daughters and married to a saint. Undergraduate from Rutgers and MBA from Anderson School at UCLA. After 20 years in the car industry, Mike joined Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC in 2008 where he guided a string of innovations while serving as the CMO. In 2013 Mike was promoted to COO where he oversees the Coldwell Banker brand’s internal operations, learning, talent attraction, international, events and marketing.